Collectors of Great Lakes maritime artifacts may want to set their sights on an auction house in Duluth's Lincoln Park neighborhood this afternoon.
Several items from lakers, including some that appear to be from the ill-fated Edmund Fitzgerald, will go on the block today at Col. Brent Loberg's Sellers Auction, 2103½ W. Third St. Loberg is quick to note that he's not a colonel in the military sense, but wears the title in the tradition of accredited auctioneers across the nation.
The weekly multifaceted auction begins at 4:30 p.m. and probably will last about four hours. Loberg estimates he'll get to the shipping paraphernalia about 6:30 p.m.
The auction features four paddles apparently from a life raft belonging to the Edmund Fitzgerald; an embroidered ship blanket that purportedly belonged to a cook who had to sit out the oreboat's final voyage because of a fortuitous illness; as well as several clips and photos documenting the vessel's tragic demise Nov. 10, 1975.
Loberg said the items came to him by way of the family of a man who worked at Fraser Shipyards in Superior, where the Edmund Fitzgerald was refitted during the 1960s. The family asked Loberg not to release their identity.
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He noted that none of the items to be offered for auction today came from the shipwreck.
"I'd feel different about it if any of this stuff had come from the actual wreckage," he said. "That's a sacred deal. Anything that went down with the ship is supposed to stay where it is."
Loberg said he respects the sanctity of the watery grave that became the final resting place of the 29 mariners who manned the Fitzgerald when it succumbed to a powerful November gale.
But Loberg defends the sale of items that were removed from the vessel before its final voyage.
As for the authenticity of the items, Loberg said he has worked as an appraiser for the courts and has 30 years of experience as an auctioneer. He also said the story of the family that brought him the Fitzgerald items checked out.
"I'm confident those are the real deal," he said.
Ultimately, today's bidders will need to decide for themselves.
The auction house, upstairs of the former Swedish American Club, will open at 9 a.m. for anyone interested in viewing merchandise before the sale.
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Loberg operates his auction on a commission basis, collecting 20 percent of the proceeds from a sale and forwarding the remaining 80 percent to the original owner of an item.
The Duluth News Tribune and the Herald are both Forum Communications Co. newspapers.
